South omo valley cultural attraction

The south omo valley is one of the most ethnically Diverse of Africa, its land of Warriors, Hunters and nomads who’s distinct age –old lifestyles are Being Changed by the outside world. Still, they are people, whose daily existence and ways of life are ruled by traditions,

The descent from the green southern highlands though craggier slopes of konso and omotic speaker, those tongue is as endemic to south omo and good to  focus on extraordinary cultural tours mainly focus on the indigenous peoples of the Omo Valley. Visiting such unique cultures helps one to truly differentiate between what is really necessary in life and what is only cosmetic. It helps one to realize that it takes very little to be happy.

These are people whose life is not affected at all by the increase of petrol price or the decrease in dollar value.
They do not need psychiatrists and marriage councilors. They do not miss the multitudes of modern gadgets and ‘comforts’. They do not want much but what they need they get from nature inside which they are happily ‘lost’. They are not primitive, as the uninformed may assume, but people whose values are different than that of the modern person. They live harmoniously and happily

Culturally the Southern Region is quite rich with some 50 Languages spoken by people of many different ethnic origins. These nations, fascinating range of cultural practices.

One notable cultural practice of these different groups of people is the way they build their houses. The Dorze are a small omotic –speaking ethnic groups whose highland territory, the main reason to visit Dorez is their unique house, and big similarities with Sidama and the Gurage in particular are known for their domed or beehive-like constructions that demonstrate the different uses of bamboo, hard working people of the country and Gurage social  structure is unusual in that economic roles are not Dictated by caste, class or Gender and Gurage principle is that idleness is a sin, work is the key to success,   

Just why there should be so many different people in such a relatively small patch of the earth is a matter of conjecture, but one probable reason may be the fact that spot happens to be the place where peoples of four totally different cultural groups meet.

Seven distinct groups of people border on Mago National Park, and hence a visit to this park has two advantages.

While exploring wild animals is one of them, the other is meeting these amazing peoples and observing their cultural features and the way they inhabit the park as an integral part of the natural ecosystems.

The Omo Valley is unique in that four of Africa’s major linguistic groups including the ‘endemic’ Omotic Languages are represented within one relatively small area.
To anthropologists, the Omo Valley is not far from being the proverbial ‘Living Museum’.

Following are some of the fascinating peoples and cultures:

The Dorze tribe: – Renowned for their remarkable beehive on –steroids homesteads, the main to visit Dorze is their unique domed house,
 they are one of the small segments of the great Omotic language group of southern Ethiopia. Once warriors, they now earn their living by farming and weaving. The Dorze name is synonymous with the best in woven cotton cloth and the tall-up bee-hive shaped bamboo house. There is quite a big Dorze community living and weaving on the northern part of Addis,

Konso:  is rank among the most singular of African nation, mixed agriculturists, they make the most of the hard and konso keeping with a local traditional that erected waka grave markers, the main attraction konso village integral to world heritage site,
About 600km south west of Addis Ababa lies the widely cultivated Konso land that is embraced by Precambrian serpentines and granites. The Konso peoples speak eastern Cushitic language and are agriculturalists and weavers. These peoples are cryptic beyond visitors’ imagination which is demonstrated in the distinctive idealization of the figures and heroic lives of their deceased symbolized with wooden totem.

Hamar= live in the large south central area of the south omo zone, this areas is characterized by mountains hills and lowlands, between rift valley of Woito River, economy based on mixed   the lake chew bahir, they speak one of the omotic tongue unique to this small areas of southern Ethiopia, bull jumping people and village
Inscribed in the far South West Omotic region, beyond Mount Buska live the Hamar and Benna people. These astounding and superstitious people were veiled in mystery for over half a century. The Hamar and Benna, are two of the Omotic speakers of remote south west Ethiopia, with unique manifestations of traditional wisdom, the ‘jumping of bulls’. The purpose of this rite is twofold: while one is the passage from boyhood to adulthood, the other is the courting occasion when both men and women adorn themselves to win a mate.  The men put ochre buns on their skin and head and insert ostrich feather, while the women wear their hair in short tufts rolled in ochre mixed with butter

Mursi: – is who call themselves mun, are cattle herders and subsistence cultivators, and also called people of labial and lobular plates
 in the remote wilderness of the south west Ethiopia live the Mursi and These peoples were completely forgotten by Ethiopia and the outside world at large, and they on their part had no notion of the outside world including Ethiopia until the seventies. The peoples of this savannah and mountainous land have such extensive cultural features that never cease to amaze visitors. While the women show their beauty and endurance by the ear lobes and the piercing of the lips, the men demonstrate their courage and stamina in the stick fighting or violence is a part of life for the mursi men who do Battle in Donga, ritual stick fight, to prove their courage to their Women 

The Karo = Kara tribes are very small groups of people living on the east bank of omo river; the total population is perhaps 4000. And speak south omotic language a dialect similar to that spoken by the Hamar and Banna. They use the name Karo to refer to themselves and their land, famous by their painting that made of natural product and called people of chalk painted bodies
The Karo tribe residing along the borders of the Lower Omo River incorporates rich, cultural symbolism into their rituals by using ornate body art, intricate headdresses, The most important ceremony in the life of a Karo is the Pilla, or jumping over a group of bull. This ritual marks the passage from adolescence to adulthood. The ceremony is similar to that of the Hamar, however the Karo only have few chances to jump over the buck of few bull without falling.

The Dassanetch: – the land of Dassanech lies in the lower omo basin, depression formed by down –warping more than four million years ago, the region semi-arid with mainly desert and main attraction is there village and dancing ceremony, and also named   people of circumcision
 they speak a completely different language and are actually the Cushitic speaking group of the Omo Valley. The most important ritual of the Dassanetch is the so-called dime. In theory, only a man who has had a daughter can be circumcised, although in practice, circumcision is carried out on the entire age-group. The daughter is most important in the dime ceremony. After the ceremony, which takes six weeks, the participants are upgraded to ‘great men’, or those that may engage in politics. The dime ritual is directly connected to the upcoming marriage of the daughter when large quantities of cattle are slaughtered for the occasion.